In this age of instant punditry, it's often easier to arrive at conclusions without even attempting analysis. When the person in question is Narendra Modi, then it becomes even more difficult to have a dispassionate debate. In the "them" versus "us" syndrome that now increasingly marks the country's public discourse,...

DK Barooah's singular contribution to Indian democracy was his coronation of Indira Gandhi as the Empress of India with his infamous remark: "India is Indira, and Indira is India". Barooah was a product of the Emergency years when political sycophancy touched an all-time low, but his ghost continues to haunt...